The subject of the present invention is a device for mixing paints, varnishes and liquid products in general.
A further subject of the present invention is a method of controlling a device of the type indicated above.
The invention has been developed particularly, but not exclusively, for a mixing device of the type with gyroscopic action in which a support unit for at least one container for liquid products is rotated simultaneously about two perpendicular axes. For simplicity, the following description will refer to a single container, without thereby excluding the possibility of the principles of the invention being applied to the agitation of several containers simultaneously.
In known mixing devices, a generally cylindrical container containing the liquid or liquids to be mixed or homogenized is supported and clamped in an upright position by the support unit in a configuration thereof which will be referred to below as the starting configuration. The energizing of a main electric motor operatively connected to the support unit causes it to move gyroscopically at a predetermined speed of rotation for a predetermined period of time. After the motor has been de-energized, the motion of the support unit slows down until it stops in a final configuration which generally differs from the starting configuration in which the container is in an upright position. It is therefore the task of the operator to act manually on the support unit to return it to the starting configuration so that the container can be released and removed in an upright position.